City shifts $2.6M from general fund for land purchase

Spurring growth on Brandt Pike is goal of mayor, council.

HUBER HEIGHTS — The city of Huber Heights is working toward a project the mayor and city council hope will spur growth on Brandt Pike.

On Monday, City Council moved $2.6 million from the city’s general fund to the Transformative Economic Development (TED) fund for the purchase of the Marian Meadows land and related expenses.

The TED fund now totals $3.8 million.

The city wants to buy part of the Marian Meadows Shopping Center in the 6100 block of Brandt Pike with some of the money in that fund.

The planned purchase will be the start of project No. 2 for the TED program, which the city started last fall.

The city has budgeted $3.8 million to buy the land and perform market studies or environmental studies and other procedures that would prepare the site for redevelopment.

The city’s first project in the TED program was buying 52 acres at the corner of Executive Boulevard and Brandt Pike. The city also hired a Chicago-based consulting firm to conduct a study to determine the best use for the land.

The city will likely do something similar with the Marian Shopping Center land, said Huber Heights City Manager Rob Schommer.

Huber Heights has long talked about revitalizing the Brandt Pike corridor. This project will be the first step, Mayor Jeff Gore said when the project was announced.

The city has previously tried to buy this portion of the Marian Meadows Shopping Center.

The city put down $20,000 of “earnest money,” but ultimately decided not to move forward with the purchase because land adjacent to the property was not available and an interested developer ultimately pulled out, Schommer said.